[Congressional Record: January 22, 2009 (Extensions)]
[Page E127]
H.R. 4156, THE SECURITY CLEARANCE OVERSIGHT AND ACCOUNTABILITY ACT
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HON. ANNA G. ESHOO
of california
in the house of representatives
Thursday, January 22, 2009
Ms. ESHOO. Madam Speaker, today I am proud to introduce the Security
Clearance Oversight and Accountability Act. This Act is the result of
the work the Subcommittee on Intelligence Community Management of the
House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. I'm pleased, Mr.
Issa, the Ranking Member of the Subcommittee during the 110th Congress,
has again joined me as a co-sponsor of this legislation. I hope we will
move this legislation quickly, given the strong bipartisan support that
it enjoys. It will improve our insight into the security clearance
process, and by doing so, improve the process itself.
Security clearances are the gateway to serving our Nation in national
security, homeland security, and many foreign policy positions. Over
time, the number of Federal employees and contractors holding
clearances has stretched into the hundreds of thousands, clogging the
clearance system and creating tremendous backlogs. Following the tragic
attacks of September 11, 2001, our country faced an urgent need to
expand its national security workforce, but hiring was hampered, and
continues to be hampered, by our clearance system. It is imperative,
especially as we transition to a new Administration, that security
clearances not be a hindrance to our national security.
In 2004, Congress passed the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism
Prevention Act, IRTPA, which contained many provisions to improve the
security clearance process. During the last Congress, our Subcommittee
undertook a thorough review of the process and the progress toward
meeting the goals of the Act. We had round-table meetings with
representatives of industry and representatives of the Intelligence
Community agencies. We carefully reviewed all reports submitted in
response to the Intelligence Reform Act as well as GAO reports on
security clearance reform in the Department of Defense. We held a
series of open hearings with Administration witnesses and GAO to
discuss accomplishments and areas where progress was lacking and we
intend to continue that oversight in the 111th Congress. This bill will
assist us in that task while improving the quality of our security
clearances.
In addition to our own oversight, we requested that the GAO review
the security clearance processes inside the Intelligence Community and
report its findings. GAO brings decades of experience and deep
expertise to this task. For more than 20 years its experts have
examined the personnel security practices in the Department of Defense.
This is the first time that Intelligence Community security practices
will be subjected to such scrutiny. We look forward to Intelligence
Community's cooperation with the GAO and to reviewing the results of
GAO's work.
This bill is designed to remedy the shortcomings we identified last
Congress. It takes a new approach to reform by requiring agencies to
report to Congress annually on certain metrics related to the security
clearance process. The metrics in this bill would enable Congress and
HPSCI to perform effective oversight, would allow both branches to
track improvements from year to year, and would allow agencies to judge
the effectiveness of each other's security clearance process, improving
confidence in the system. In a few areas where adequate metrics have
not been developed, the Administration is required to propose metrics
to Congress.
Just a few weeks ago, the Administration's Joint Security and
Security Reform Team issued its proposal for security clearance process
transformation. Their vision of a transformed process includes
consolidated databases, interactive electronic applications,
investigative techniques tailored to individual cases, automated
investigation tools, automated clearance adjudication, and a more
aggressive reinvestigation schedule for individual holding security
clearances. Many of these reforms were required by the IRTPA and I am
pleased to see their long-delayed implementation.
The security clearance process is a key to our national security
establishment and we must make sure that it works as efficiently as
possible. An effective security clearance system keeps out those who
pose a security risk, while quickly identifying those who are
trustworthy to work in the system. For too long it has been a troubled
system. This legislation will allow us to confirm the necessary
progress we must make in this critical area.
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